History

Burgas is a place where history comes alive and invites you on an unforgettable journey through the ages. Around the city numerous prehistoric and ancient settlements have been uncovered, dated from the Copper Age to the late Bronze Age. In 2008 archaeologists from the Burgas Museum discovered at "Solna Niva", near Atanasovsko Lake, a prehistoric mound with over 250 artefacts, some dating back to around 6000 BC. These remarkable finds attest to developed agriculture, livestock breeding and salt extraction — the chief livelihood of the ancient inhabitants. Ritual vessels of a priest-king were also found, making the artefacts among the oldest along the Black Sea coast, including in Turkey and the Caucasus. This led the director of the regional museum, Tsonya Drazheva, to call the Burgas region a "crossroads of the most ancient civilisations".

Among the region's earliest inhabitants were the Thracians, who around the 6th century BC founded many settlements on today's Burgas territory and in the nearby cities of Apollonia, Mesambria and Anchialos. In today's Pobeda district, at "Sladki Kladentsi", a Thracian settlement existed — likely an emporion (market) of Apollonia, with a harbour and aqueduct. On the Shilo hill in the Meden Rudnik district stood a Thracian fortress that protected the nearby copper mines of Thracian princes at Varli Bryag. After Philip II of Macedon's invasion, the sanctuary of Apollo Karneios (the Pure Apollo) was built on this site, part of a chain of sanctuaries to this god.

Although some ancient settlements have not survived due to active building in later eras, the presence of harbours, market grounds and archaeological finds gives historians grounds to locate the Harbour of the Thracian Kings on the territory of Burgas. Archaeological studies of the mineral baths at Aquae Calidae also confirm the existence of Thracian settlements and the famous "sanctuary of the Three Nymphs". These sites offer tourists a unique opportunity to touch the region's ancient history.

Burgas is regarded as the successor of the ancient cities of Deultum, Aquae Calidae and the medieval Pyrgos, and according to some authors also of Skafida and Rusokastron. Deultum arose on the western shore of Lake Mandra at the mouth of the Sredetska River, and its name means "between two marshes". Despite the influence of the large neighbouring cities of Apollonia and Mesambria, the Burgas region preserved its significance through the centuries, becoming a cultural and historical hub.

After the southern Black Sea coast was conquered by the Roman general Lucullus in 72 BC, Emperor Vespasian founded the colony of Deultum for veterans of the VIII Augustan Legion. The town grew into an important centre of the province of Haemimontus, situated at the crossroads of the Roman roads Via Militaris and Via Pontica. At the same time the mineral baths of Aquae Calidae flourished, visited by emperors and kings. Roman coins from the 1st to the 4th century have been found in central Burgas, and south of today's Central Station lie the remains of a Roman station.

At the end of the 1st century, under Emperor Antoninus Pius, the twin fortress of Burgos or Poros and a road-station with a harbour were built on the Poros peninsula near today's Krajmorie quarter. They guarded the approaches to Deultum and Skafida. Excavations in 2009 uncovered parts of the fortress, a 13th-century monastery and a 5th-century settlement. Some historians consider Poros and Pyrgos to be one and the same fortress, which served as a watch-tower and was visible until the 19th century.

After the partition of the Roman Empire in 395, the region became part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Under Emperor Justinian I, fortress walls were raised around Aquae Calidae. In 708 Khan Tervel defeated Byzantine forces at Anchialos, and Aquae Calidae and Deultum entered the borders of Bulgaria for the first time. Under Khan Krum the region of Zagore became permanently Bulgarian, and under his successor Omurtag the Erkesia border rampart was built.

In the 12th and 13th centuries the region was contested between Bulgaria and Byzantium. In 1206 the Latins, led by Henry of Flanders, burned down Thermopolis (the medieval name of Aquae Calidae). In 1304 Tsar Todor Svetoslav captured the southern Black Sea coast after the Battle of Skafida, and in 1332 Tsar Ivan Alexander defeated the Byzantines at Rusokastro in the last major battle between the two empires. In the early 13th century the region was devastated by the Catalan Company.

Burgas was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1367/1368, but was briefly freed by Amadeus VI of Savoy and returned to Byzantium. In early 1453, shortly before the fall of Constantinople, the town became a permanent part of the Ottoman Empire. Deultum was completely destroyed, while Thermopolis and Pyrgos were preserved. Sultan Suleiman I built a new hammam (bathhouse) on the remains of the Roman baths at Thermopolis, while Sultan Bayezid II built a farmstead and a lighthouse at Poros.

The first written mention of Burgas on the site of today's centre is in an Ottoman register of 1603/4, where the harbour of Pyrgos is part of the waqf of Iskender Pasha. In the 17th century Burgas served as a base of the Ottoman fleet and developed as a shipbuilding centre after the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Travellers such as Evliya Çelebi noted the importance of the town and its two harbours.

By the mid-17th century the town began to grow thanks to trade and grain exports. By 1738 the population of Burgas was predominantly Turkish. In the late 18th century western diplomats described Burgas as a strategically important commercial centre of some 1,100–1,200 houses.

After the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) much of the Bulgarian population left the region, but Bulgarians from the interior gradually settled in. In 1860 a telegraph station was built in the town, fostering trade and raising Burgas's importance as the main port for southern Bulgaria.

The foundations of Bulgarian education in Burgas were laid in 1865 with the opening of the first Bulgarian school. In 1869 a Bulgarian community was established that founded a Bulgarian class school and a church on the site of today's Sts. Cyril and Methodius cathedral. Although the population of Burgas did not actively take part in the armed struggle for liberation, the town was an important communications hub for the Internal Revolutionary Organisation, visited by Vasil Levski and Panayot Hitov.

During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Burgas served as a logistical hub of the Ottoman army. At the end of the war numerous Turkish and Circassian populations, including from Burgas, withdrew through the port. The last 2,000 Turkish soldiers and 4 cannons left the town at the end of December 1877. After the Adrianople armistice, Burgas remained outside the borders of the future Bulgaria, which led to lawlessness by bashi-bazouk and Circassian bands and massacres at Karnobat and Balgarovo. The town was spared thanks to Rufat Efendi, the Ottoman commander of the port.

On 6 February 1878 a "flying detachment" under Colonel Lermontov liberated Burgas. At the time the population was about 2,950. Niko Popov was appointed the first mayor. Russian troops set up a military hospital under the supervision of Alexandra Lermontova and remained in the town until mid-1879.

Under the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Burgas became one of the six administrative centres of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia. Part of the Turkish population returned, and the municipality issued its decisions in Bulgarian, Greek and Ottoman. Despite a shortage of water, the town flourished as an important commercial centre and the only large port of Eastern Rumelia, attracting refugees from Eastern Thrace and Strandja. In 1880 the "Probuda" reading-room was opened, and on 20 July 1885 the first Burgas weekly — "Burgaski Vestnik" — was published.

In September 1885, Eastern Rumelia was unified with the Principality of Bulgaria. The Unification was met with disapproval from Russia. In the ensuing Serbo-Bulgarian War, citizens from Burgas also took part. Tsar Alexander III of Russia refused to recognise Alexander Battenberg as ruler of the unified Bulgaria, and Russian diplomacy aided plots against the country. The Turkish government demanded control of the Burgas port, but the Bulgarian prince rejected the demand.

In May 1886 a plot in Burgas, led by the Russian officer Nikolai Nabokov against Alexander Battenberg, was foiled. The plotters hid in the Russian mission and escaped punishment. Despite attempts to dethrone the prince, with the help of Stefan Stambolov and the Rumelian troops Prince Alexander I returned to the throne. In October that year a new military mutiny in Burgas, again led by Nabokov and supported by a Russian warship, was put down by Kosta Panitsa with the help of the Aytos detachment, ending the Russophile plots against the Unification in the town.

After the Liberation, Burgas experienced rapid growth and ranked second after Sofia in pace of development. By 1887 the town's population reached 5,700. In 1891 the first building plan was adopted, contributing to modernisation and changing the city's Oriental look. The town library (1881), the Sea Garden (1891) were built, and construction began on the cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (1897). The first printing house (1895) and the Burgas–Plovdiv railway line (1890) were opened. In 1903 the seaport was inaugurated, which spurred economic development and the appearance of numerous industrial enterprises.

Many of the beautiful buildings in Burgas — including the Imperial Hotel, the Modern Theatre and the Sts. Cyril and Methodius cathedral, as well as the houses of Ivan Hadzhipetrov, Isaac Prezenti, the Kalimanov brothers, Stefan Rodev and others — were designed by the Italian architect Riccardo Toscani between 1897 and 1926.

After the Unification, the city and the region became a major refugee centre, taking in many people from Eastern Thrace and Macedonia following the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising and the Inter-Allied War of 1913. Various Macedonian-Adrianople organisations were founded in Burgas — including the Macedonian-Adrianople Society, the Macedonian-Adrianople Volunteer Society and others — supporting refugees and national causes.

In 1906 the actions of Greek andartes in Macedonia caused unrest in Burgas and the region. The Greek church and school in the town were expropriated, and much of the Greek population emigrated, mostly to Constantinople. The Commercial Gymnasium moved into the former premises of the Greek school. At this time Burgas also had Armenian, Turkish and French private schools.

During the Balkan War, the First Company of the 12th Lozengrad Battalion of the Macedonian-Adrianople Volunteer Corps was formed in Burgas with 65 volunteers under Louis Ayer. On 18 October 1912 the town was shelled by the Ottoman fleet, which imposed a naval blockade on Burgas Bay, lifted on 8 November of the same year.

After the Inter-Allied War and the First World War, the number of refugees in Burgas grew significantly, reaching over 60,000 by 1931, mainly from Eastern Thrace and Aegean Macedonia. Despite hardships, the city experienced an economic boom. In 1920 its population was about 21,000, and by the mid-1930s Burgas surpassed Varna as Bulgaria's main port for the export and import of goods. During this period factories such as the only pencil factory in southeastern Europe (1924) opened, and the saltworks at Atanasovsko Lake expanded.

In the winter of 1928/29 Burgas Bay froze over, allowing carriages to cross to the island of St. Anastasia. By 1934 the city's population had grown to 34,260.

On 9 September 1944 Burgas was occupied by Soviet troops, who seized the airport and the port, and representatives of the royalist authorities were executed. The ensuing People's Court affected many representatives of the Burgas intelligentsia and wealthy families. After the Second World War, part of the Jewish population emigrated through convoys organised by the Haganah.

The communist regime nationalised over 160 factories and enterprises, causing economic hardship and shortages of goods. In 1947 the first passenger plane from Sofia landed in Burgas, marking the beginning of Bulgarian civil aviation.

In the 1950s and 1960s industrialisation continued with the construction of chemical and petrochemical plants, including the Petrochemical Complex. The population grew, reaching 117,517 in 1965. In the following years residential estates such as Izgrev, Zornitsa, Slaveykov and Meden Rudnik were built, dominated by buildings from this period. In Slaveykov, Block 55 was built in 1980; with 23 entrances and 482 m it became the longest residential block in Bulgaria and was awarded the title "socialist pride". In the same period the central municipal Halls were replaced by a new two-storey building, renamed "Krasnodar". Another emblematic building of the era is residential Block 77 in the Lazur quarter (then called Tolbukhin), known in Burgas as "the Cucumber".

In 1976 the village of Meden Rudnik was incorporated into Burgas, becoming the city's largest quarter. By 1985 the population of Burgas reached 182,338, and between 1987 and 1991 five more municipal villages were added to the city.

After the fall of communism in 1989 the architecture and look of the city began to change. Even so, the architecture of Burgas — especially on the outskirts — bears the mark of the city's expansion during the communist era, when former refugee camps were transformed into residential estates, and in the younger districts the so-called Sharon houses can still be seen.

In 2011 Burgas won the award for Best Bulgarian City to Live In, as well as Greenest Bulgarian City. In 2013 Burgas won the Best Bulgarian City to Live In award for a second time.

In 2015 a 245-metre-long tunnel (underground street) was opened beneath the central Troikata Square, connecting General Gurko Street and Knyaz Boris Street; three years later, on 11 May 2018, the Arena OZK swimming complex was inaugurated.

In spring 2023, the Northern Bypass of Burgas was put into service, leading towards Sofia and the Sarafovo district and onwards to the resorts and settlements in the northern part of Burgas Region; on 18 May the same year, the multifunctional Arena Burgas hall was completed and opened.

Visit Burgas and immerse yourself in its rich history! Discover ancient settlements, mystical sanctuaries and archaeological treasures that speak of civilisations more than 6,000 years old. The city awaits you with countless landmarks that will make your journey unforgettable!